Bad News about my Heart

To catch people up:
Back in February, I suffered an aortic dissection, a tearing of the major artery that comes out of the heart (it's the big red thing in the middle of the illustration). Most people do not survive this, but God blessed me and my family by allowing me to survive.

Today, I went to the cardiac surgeon and had a cardiac MRI done. It takes detailed cross-section pictures of my heart and aorta. It was presumed going in that the aorta between the graft that replaced the torn part and my heart was a certain size (below 5 cm) that would indicate that we can delay surgical intervention to fix it and to replace my bad valve that leads into the aorta (it is bicuspid, only having two flaps instead of three).

However, the MRI determined that that part of my aorta is 5.8 cm, which is an aneurysm. I will have tests done the first week of September to determine if my lungs can handle surgery at this time. If so, I will have surgery in October at the latest.

While I knew surgery was looming, I didn’t expect it so soon. This will keep me from teaching college this semester and will knock me out of my ministry with the CCO for at least a month if not more. There is a 2-4% mortality rate for this surgery, so keep my family in your prayers.

"Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.
The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."
Zephaniah 3:16-17